" Life Time Achievement Award " by Pune District Education Association, College of Ayurved and Research Centre, Pradhikaran, Nigdi, Pune in 1st National conference on "Parad and Gandhak" on 10- 3-2001

Dr. Chandrakant Prabhakar Sardeshmukh

Dr.Chandrakant Sardeshmukh, sitar player and Indian musician, has the rarest of qualities: a humane spirit combined with prodigious talent. Not content with living in his own artistic isolation, he has a genuine inner urge to reach out and communicate with people from all walks of life.

He started his musical journey early in life. He played the Sitar at the age of 4. Recognized as " a sheer prodigy " at the age of eight by Pandit Ravi Shankar, he was immediately accepted as a student by the Sitar maestro. Chandrakant had a rare privilege of strict training of traditional Indian music of Maihar Senia Gharana under the tutelage of Mrs. Annapurnadevi Ravi Shankar, who is a gifted artist in her own right, being daughter of Allaudin baba.

He rapidly emerged as a promising young artist performing live Sitar concerts in India and abroad. But he gave up the fame and glamour of the concert circuit and returned to Pune in order to pursue research in the Vedic tradition of Indian music on his father 's bidding, whom he considers his philosopher and guide. He then went on to write a thesis on 'Samavedic basis of Indian Music' and achieved a doctorate in Sanskrit.

Dr. Chandrakant has today established his reputation in the world of music as a versatile and innovative Indian musician. He has performed numerous Sitar solo concerts in many parts of the globe including Japan, U.S.A.,Germany and Australia. Music aficionados appreciate his approachability and eagerness to engage in one-to-one dialogue with them.

But perhaps the most important aspect of Dr. Chandrakant's multi-faceted personality is his inquisitive mind that urges him on to experiment with innovative new directions. His instinctive understanding of Ayurveda, which is a part of his family tradition, has lead to successful forays in musical healing His spirit remains deeply rooted in Indian philosophy and religion.

Today Dr.Chandrakant wishes more than anything else to pass on his knowledge and art of Indian traditional music to the new generation which he considers as his mission in life.

Dr. Mrs. Pooja Chandrakant Sardeshmukh

Pooja is core management personnel of Darshanam with proven business skills and achievements;

She has Electronic Science Ph.D. with total 23 years of experience comprising of 8 years of Research and Development. She also has experience of over 15 years in international software engineering industry focused for Japanese projects in roles spanning f rom software project management, marketing, international business development , offshore project management, technical consulting and systems analysis.

She has a Ph. D. from University of Pune and she did her post doctorate research in Nagoya University . She has been working as IT consultant in Japan for over 15 years.

She demonstrated entrepreneurial leadership since the beginning of her career in IT (software development) industry

In details, she has Knowledge of/ experience in -

Business applications in Japanese markets for industries like Banking, and Insurance, Automotive etc.

Worked for the first India-Japan joint venture , Fujitsu-ICIM during 94-96.

Contributed to several joint ventures between India and Japan e.g.

Human Base Japan ( Osaka ) with Human Base India (Bangalore),

UBC (Tokyo) with JIN (Bangalore),

UBC (Tok yo) with JETRA (Pune)

NIIT (Tokyo & Delhi) with CAC Corporation (Tokyo),

Geometric Software (Tokyo & Pune) with UGS (Tokyo)

Global project models for multinationals

General Motors : Asia Pacific, Australia and United States

Hartford life: Asia Pacific and United States

Citigroup: Asia Pacific, Europe and United States

· Experience in executing projects with Web technology and Client Server architecture
· Language skill in Japanese and English (speaking, reading, writing) with translation and interpretation a t business/domain level